Canucks confident heading into Game 1 against defending champion Blues

The Vancouver Canucks are about to find out where they stand in the pecking order of the Stanley Cup contenders in the Western Conference.

"There's no bigger test than playing the team that just won the Stanley Cup," coach Travis Green said Tuesday.

The No. 5-seeded Canucks play Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the No. 4-seeded St. Louis Blues on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS) at Rogers Arena in Edmonton, the West hub city.

The Canucks advanced to face the Blues by defeating the Minnesota Wild in four games in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers. St. Louis went 0-2-1 in the round-robin to finish as the fourth seed.

"I think everyone is ready now," Canucks forward Loui Eriksson said. "They know how the tempo is and the physicality of the game. It was good to have these games [against Minnesota] and the way we played and how we won, it felt really great for the team. Now we have another challenge."

The Canucks hadn't won a postseason series since 2011 and hadn't been to the playoffs since 2015, when center Elias Pettersson was 16 years old and rookie defenseman Quinn Hughes was 15.

Vancouver has 15 players on its active roster who had no NHL postseason experience before the Minnesota series, including 10 who are expected to be in the lineup for Game 1, most notably goalie Jacob Markstrom, forwards Pettersson and Brock Boeser, and Hughes.

The Blues, on the other hand, have 20 players on their roster who were part of their Stanley Cup championship team last year.

"I know what St. Louis' team is all about," Green said. "It's no secret. I also know what our team needs to do to play its best, and that's what we're worried about."

Green said he thinks the series against the Wild was a good warmup for the Canucks before they face the Blues because he sees similarities in the heavier style Minnesota and St. Louis like to play.

Green also said he saw growth in the Canucks against the Wild from Game 1, a 3-0 loss, to its 5-4 overtime victory in Game 4.

"Our ability to adapt to this type of hockey," Green said. "To play playoff hockey and win in playoff hockey, you have to be able to defend well, you have to be able to limit chances. The compete level in front of both nets is very high, you have to be willing to go there to score and you have to be willing to play in front of your own net. Over the last week, I think our defensive game was stronger than it had been. A lot of that was from commitment of our players to play that way, improvement from some of our players as well, and the resiliency of our group.

"I thought Game 1 took a lot out of us just because of buildup up to the playoffs and the emotions. To be able to bounce back and find a way to win in different fashions over the next couple games, especially Game 4, being down and down again and coming back, our team, they were all in. The intensity level was high, and I thought our guys rose to the occasion."

They impressed others in the NHL along the way.

Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele said he thinks the Canucks are a dangerous opponent in the West, pointing to the NHL season being paused March 12-Aug. 1 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus as a factor.

"They're starting to find their rhythm," Scheifele said. "And I think that's the biggest thing about this tournament; you don't do anything for four months, there is going to be weird things that happen, that rust is all of a sudden going to come off. The more you play, the more that you get on the ice, the more that you practice, the more you get into the rhythm of things, the more guys are going to get back to normal and I think Vancouver could be a dark horse."

If the season never was paused, the Blues, in many respects, would be encountering an unknown had they earned a first-round series against the Canucks. There would be no recent playoff games for them to break down, no way to predict how Vancouver might respond.

Now they know.

"I think it helps with preparation a lot," St. Louis center Ryan O'Reilly said. "You see that series, how hard both teams played, you saw how physical they were, you saw their speed. I think that helps us see their tendencies and prepare for them. It's definitely an advantage."

An advantage on top of what the Blues already have going for them: size, depth, quality goaltending and experience.

The Canucks will find out quickly if they can handle all of it.

"All I know is we're playing St. Louis, the defending Stanley Cup champs, and we're excited about it," Green said. "We are a young team that hasn't had a lot of experience, but I can tell you we're not here to just play the games. We're here to win."

NHL.com staff writer Tim Campbell contributed to this report